


Great Lengths

by celticheart72



Series: Twinkles and War Machine [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Complete, F/M, Not Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Compliant, Sad with a Happy Ending, X-Men: Dark Phoenix References, X-Men: Days of Future Past References
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-19
Updated: 2019-11-19
Packaged: 2021-02-13 00:07:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21485086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celticheart72/pseuds/celticheart72
Summary: The Sokovia Accords creates a rift between Rhodey and his girlfriend Paxton and she flees to Genosha. Until a tragedy brings her back to Rhodey's side.
Relationships: Erik Lehnsherr & Original Female Character, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark, James "Rhodey" Rhodes/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Twinkles and War Machine [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1554979
Comments: 4
Kudos: 17





	Great Lengths

**Author's Note:**

> So I went down a rabbit hole watching Captain America and the Avengers movies yesterday. I ADORE Don Cheadle and I was reminded of just how much while watching Civil War. So between that, watching Days of Future Past again recently, along with a discussion with athena83 and a comment between myself and bigbandbombshell about the Accords prompted an idea. Erik Lehnsherr and references to Days of Future Past and Dark Phoenix made it in here too so this is definitely AU and not entirely canon compliant.
> 
> UPDATE 11/22/2019: And the rabbit hole has gotten deeper because I've revised this one-shot to account for the fact that the 'reader' is now an OC. I had to because I was creating too detailed of a backstory for her not to make her an OC.

The tension building behind Paxton's eyes felt like it was going to blow the top of her head wide open. Like some kind of comical alien horror movie. She was almost tempted to search down _ Indian Love Call _on her phone to see if it would work.

That had to be better than what was coming.

Instead, she rubbed her knuckles over her forehead in a vain attempt to massage the tension away. It didn't work.

When she opened her eyes the copy of the Sokovia Accords James gave her to read still rested under her other hand.

He signed the Accords.

Even worse he wanted her to sign them.

"You aren't going to sign, are you Pax?" His voice made her look up to where he stood across the conference room, arms folded over his chest leaning back against the door.

"How did you know I was in here?" She admired the way his biceps and the muscles of his forearms stood out and her traitorous thoughts wandered to more pleasant times.

His lips pursed and he lifted a hand to point up to the ceiling.

Her eyes rolled. "Friday."

"I am afraid Colonel Rhodes asked where he might find you, Miss Shaw." Came the AI's response.

"It's alright."

James pushed away from the wall, walked over to the seat across from her, and sat down. His hands laced together in front of him and those brown eyes she loved so much focused on her. "Is it?"

Tears threatened for probably the thousandth time since she read the Accords. It not only addressed the Avengers but anyone considered enhanced, non-human, or mutant. The US Government had essentially found a way to finally get the mutant registry they'd been fighting for all wrapped up into what was presented as oversight.

"I can't."

He let out a frustrated sigh and sat back in his seat. Paxton watched him cross one arm over his chest and lift the other hand to his mouth.

"James, it's akin to a death sentence for so many of us."

"It is not!" He slapped his hand down and scowled at her.

"You don't get it." She tapped the top of the document in front of her and his eyes moved between her fingers and her face. "They've wanted a mutant registry for years. Ever since people like Bolivar Trask started telling them how dangerous people like me are. It probably goes back further than that but I know, _ I know_, he was a part of it. Erik would probably tell you that it goes back to my father and the Nazis with their experimentation. I'm sure Steve or his friend Bucky could tell you more about that than I can."

"This isn't about experimentation! It's about oversight and making sure the Avengers have checks and balances." He believed that, and Paxton agreed that no entity should have free reign to act without consequences or conscience.

This was different though.

The copy of the Accords slid across the table and his hand smacked down over the top of it before it went to the floor.

"Mutant registry, James! It's right in there. Identify each and every mutant and their powers. Catalog them. Monitor them. And you think this is okay?!" She shook with barely concealed anger and fear.

"I'm not saying that!" He turned in his chair and leaned forward on his elbows. His hands ran over his hair and it was several seconds before he spoke again. "Baby, I can't protect you if you don't sign it."

"As much as I love you for wanting to protect me, James, I don't need you to."

The hurt in his eyes when he sat up and looked back at her almost made the whole thing worse. He was doing what he thought he needed to do to keep the Avengers together _ AND _protect people. Part of that in his mind was protecting her.

Swallowing hard she brought her hands together in her lap and created a small ball of energy which she held up for him to see. "You know what I can do."

The energy ball left her hands and floated to the middle of the table.

"Friday, shut down the complex power."

"Miss..."

"Just do it, please."

The sound of everything powering down and people shouting floated to her ears.

"Tony's going to be pissed," James chuckled.

Paxton smiled wryly and motioned the energy ball to the ceiling where it grew until it encircled the complex and everything came back on again.

The conference room door slammed open and Tony stood there in his Iron Man suit. His mask retracted and he glared at her. "Next time, Twinkles, a warning would be appreciated."

"Sorry, Tony."

He looked between Paxton and James then motioned a finger at the ceiling. "Can Friday turn the power back on?"

She shrugged, "Or you can wait until that energy boost dissipates."

His eyebrow arched and he pointed to his wrist.

"About 24 hours."

Tony looked at the ceiling. "You got that, Friday?"

"Yes, sir."

With that Tony waggled a finger between them. "You kids play nice."

When he was gone James gave her an incredulous look. "24 hours? Are you serious?"

"I could be a blessing or a curse. In the right hands, I can power an entire city with those energy balls. In the wrong hands, I could destroy entire cities with them."

"Signing the Accords doesn't mean you suddenly become property of the government. That's not what this is."

"Damnit, James!" She stood up so abruptly her chair rolled into the glass behind her and she paced over to it to look outside at the hanger where Steve and Sam stood near one of the quinjets. "What about the mutants who can't protect themselves? What about the ones the government identifies as having undesirable powers? Or the ones whose powers are too tempting for the government to overlook? This isn't about me being stubborn!"

"It sure as hell seems like it from where I'm standing, Pax."

She turned back to face him and found him standing next to her. One thing she told him from day one, he was her center. As difficult as things were that hadn't changed. Standing so close to him, not even touching, she felt a calm wash over her that she couldn't achieve without him.

When the sobs started he just stepped forward and pulled her into his arms, pressing a kiss into her hair and telling her it would be okay.

He heaved a sigh as he laid his cheek on top of her head. "I don't remember a time where we weren't fighting."

She smiled and leaned her head back to look him in the eyes. "There's nothing to fight about anymore."

His brows drew together and he searched her face. She felt his heart rate pick up slightly against her chest. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm leaving, James. To Genosha. There is going to be a flood of mutants seeking refuge and Erik can use the help."

His hands cupped her cheeks, his eyes momentarily panicked before he reigned it all in. "You don't have to go."

Suddenly she felt weightless, like the entire world was slipping away and she buried her nose in his neck as she pressed herself further into him. Breathing him in and memorizing the feel of his body against hers. Hot tears soaked the shoulder of his t-shirt and his arms tightened around her.

A mild vibration alerted her to the presence of a very specific mutant and she knew it was time to go.

When she put her hands to his chest to push back from him his fingers tangled in her hair and he brought his lips to hers. Tears ran freely down her cheeks as he deepened the kiss and poured all of the love and emotion into that one moment that he could. He finally broke the kiss and leaned his forehead against hers while his thumbs brushed tears from under her eyes.

"Please stay."

This time she kissed him and smiled against his lips. "I love you, James, with all my heart. But it's not safe for me here anymore."

He sighed and let her go, fisting his hands on his hips and looked between her and the hangar where Erik waited. The deep breath he took before holding his hand out to her let Paxton know that while he wasn't happy about letting her go he wasn't going to stop her.

Paxton had no doubts that he'd fight for her until his dying breath, but he had no desire to control her.

Knowing that, as well as seeing how much he was hurting right at that moment made her hesitate for the briefest of seconds. Staying wouldn’t be fair to him because she wouldn’t sign the Accords and that would make her a criminal. She took his hand and laced her fingers with his.

When the two of them walked into the hangar they found Steve, Tony, Sam, and Natasha facing off with Erik, who looked highly amused by them all. 

“Give it a rest, guys, he’s not here to cause trouble.” The look she gave James said it all. See what I mean?

He held her hand fast as he moved in front of Erik, practically standing toe to toe with him. His eyes focused on the concrete at their feet for a second before lifting his head to meet the other man’s eyes. Erik, to his credit, seemed completely unperturbed, though she was sure inside he was seething about the entire situation.

“You take care of her, Lehnsherr. Don’t make me come find you if something happens to her.”

Erik arched an eyebrow and looked at Paxton, then slowly moved his eyes back to the man in front of him. Moving forward a step so they were, in fact, toe to toe, Erik dropped his chin to meet James’ eyes. “She can take care of herself. But _ I _ most certainly won’t allow any harm to come to her.”

“Alright, that’s enough.” She pulled on James’ hand to pull him back a few steps. The two of them didn’t like each other, for a variety of reasons, but now wasn’t the time for them to get into some kind of pissing contest. 

After saying her goodbyes to her friends, who knew before James did that she was leaving, she returned to him. He opened his hands and she laid her palms over his as her heart rate ratcheted up from the anxiety of leaving him. 

James held her eyes and shook his head, “You don’t have to go.”

“I do.” Paxton pressed her palms to his, then lifted her hands to his cheeks and leaned in to kiss him as she squeezed her eyes shut. Her forehead rested against his when she broke the kiss. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

With that, she spun on her heels and marched past Erik toward the jet where another mutant waited to fly them both back to Genosha. If she looked back, her nerve would break and she’d never leave.

* * *

“Why’d you let her go with Mr. Personality?” Tony shook his head and gripped his friend’s shoulder. 

Rhodey watched the mutants jet lift off the tarmac. “It was her choice.”

The jet rotated and hovered for a few seconds before rocketing away into the sky.

“Well, it’s a stupid one. She would have stayed if you told her to.”

“That’s not love, Tony.” He watched the jet until it was no longer visible. “She has the right to make her own decisions without me forcing mine on her. I’m not going to do that to her. No matter how much it hurts.”

And it did. It was the hardest thing he ever had to do. 

James Rhodes spent the rest of that evening in his room drinking too much of Tony’s best whiskey.

* * *

Several weeks later…

“You need to come with me.” Erik was in the doorway of the small hut Paxton had made for herself, somewhat apart from the rest of the Genoshan residents.

The tone of his voice was serious but strangely gentle and that scared her more than anything he’d ever done possibly could have.

“What’s wrong?” 

He paused long enough for her to catch up with him. “You have to go.”

“You’re kicking me off Genosha? But I didn’t sign the Accords!!”

His expression was mildly annoyed when he turned his head to look at her. “No. Your Colonel Rhodes was injured. Severely. You need to go to him.”

Her heart dropped into her feet and she stared at Erik’s back while all the air rushed out of her lungs. The world felt like it started to tilt and her vision narrowed until she could barely see anything in front of her.

Strong hands pulled her up on her tiptoes and forced her to look into grave blue eyes. “Stop it. You need to be strong for him. Like he was for you.”

Swallowing hard she nodded then followed him to a different jet than the one they’d taken to get to Genosha not all that long ago. It was a Stark jet. 

That meant Tony sent for her.

* * *

It had been 36 hours. Paxton slept fitfully in a chair pushed up next to James’ bed with her hand curled around his waiting, praying, hoping, that he would wake up. 

After James fell, Tony sent for her almost immediately. He’d been in a coma for nearly two days.

Something was squeezing her hand. She felt like she should recognize what, or who, but her head was so addled from lack of sleep, crying, worry, and everything else that it wasn’t registering.

She heard someone clear their throat and lifted her head. 

“Hey, sleeping beauty.” James was looking at her with a faint smile on his lips.

“James!” Paxton jumped up and kissed him. “Oh my, God! You’re awake.”

“I can’t feel my legs.”

“We’ll deal with that later. They were waiting for you to wake up for an MRI.”

“You have to go, baby. It’s not safe for you here.” His fingers brushed her tears away.

Leaning into his hand she smiled at him and shook her head. “It’s fine, James. I’m not going anywhere.”

His fingers curled under her chin and nudged her face up so she’d look at him. “No. You don’t understand. Vienna was bombed. Any enhanced, mutant, or non-human that doesn’t register or sign the Accords is an enemy combatant.”

“I signed them, James.”

“What?!” He tried to sit up but she put her hand on his chest when it caused him obvious pain. “Why would you do that?”

With a smile, she ran her fingers over his cheek as tears fell from her eyes. “Because, baby, I love you, and I couldn't protect you if I didn't sign them.”

His hand wrapped around the back of her neck and he pulled her down until her forehead touched his. “I love you too.”

**Author's Note:**

> If you like my work kudos are appreciated. If you love it comments are wonderful. If you have constructive criticism or questions let's talk. If you leave blatantly rude or negative comments, know that no hate is allowed here and will be deleted. And if you read my work and are too shy to interact right now, know that's okay too.
> 
> Just a general A/N regarding all of my work: Please understand that I update when writing inspiration hits. I never intend on abandoning an unfinished fic, so know that if I do I'll eventually get back to it when inspiration strikes again.


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